Craig Pouncey

Craig Pouncey studied at King’s College London and the universities of Paris and Nice before qualifying as a barrister in 1985. He joined Herbert Smith in 1987 and has been based in Brussels since 1994, when he became a partner. He has been managing partner of the Brussels office since 2005.

Craig has built a broad-based EU and UK competition practice, appearing before the European Commission, European Courts and the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal. He has extensive experience in the field of merger control and cartel investigations, as well as antitrust litigation and counselling for a large number of high-profile international clients.

His practice encompasses a wide range of sectors, from telecoms and media (he is acknowledged as the leading expert on UK newspaper mergers), to manufacturing industries, music, e-commerce and financial services. He is particularly active in the Asia-Pacific area, advising clients from the region on a variety of issues including recent high-profile EU Commission cartel investigations, as well as on the merger control issues raised by inward investment plans. He liaises closely with partners across the Herbert Smith Freehills network in providing the co-ordinated multi-jurisdictional advice which is increasingly critical for companies operating internationally.
Craig speaks and writes on a variety of competition topics: recent publications have dealt with the specific merger control issues raised by Chinese SOE acquisitions, minority shareholdings and private equity transactions. He speaks fluent French.